Asma Rani’s murderer sentenced to death by Peshawar court

PESHAWAR: The murderer of Asma Rani, a medical student from Kohat who was gunned down in 2018 for refusing the convict’s marriage proposal, has been sentenced to death by a District and Sessions Court in Peshawar.

In a special hearing on Friday, District and Sessions Judge Ashfaq Taj announced a short order in which the main accused, Mujahidullah Afridi, was handed the death sentence and a fine of Rs300,000. Two other accused, Sadiqullah and Shahzeb, were acquitted. The special hearing took place inside Central Jail Peshawar.

Asma Rani, a third-year student of Ayub Medical College was shot near her home in Kohat when she refused to marry the accused, Mujahidullah Afridi, in January 2018. In her statement to the police before her death, Asma Rani had accused Afridi of shooting her.

After the killing, Mujahidullah Afridi fled the country. Kohat District Police Officer Abbas Majeed Marwat had said then that Mujahidullah had already made plans for his escape to the UAE before murdering Rani.

He was arrested in the United Arab Emirates through Interpol and handed over to Pakistani authorities in March 2018.

That same month, Asma Rani’s family alleged they were being pressured to enter into an agreement regarding the murder case.

Asma’s brother and father had said the accused enjoy support from some influential people and requested transferring the case to Peshawar, Bannu or Dera Ismail Khan, saying the family was facing threats from those backing the suspects.

The case was subsequently moved to Peshawar at the directives of the Peshawar High Court.